Topic 1 - Humourism Flashcards
1
Q
Who first identified mental illness in a (semi) scientific way?
A
Hippocrates
2
Q
What did they think?
A
Madness resulted from an imbalance of four humours (body fluids) and could therefore by cured by balancing them
3
Q
What were the four humours?
A
Blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile
4
Q
What was caused by excess black bile?
A
Depression (melancholia)
5
Q
What was caused by excess yellow bile?
A
Irritability, excess anger and anxiety (choleric)
6
Q
What was caused by excess phlegm?
A
Sluggish and dull (phlegmatic)
7
Q
What was caused by excess blood?
A
Changeable temperament and a manic state (sanguine)
8
Q
What was the treatments?
A
This involved trying to restore the balance of these fluids through methods such as diets, laxatives, purgatives (to make you sick) and bloodletting
